Lost in the Dark is the perfect sized horror game

Like comedy, horror is subjective. Some people like the thrills that come with fear, while others prefer the slower and more psychological horror. In that sense, Yomawari: Lost in the Dark can satisfy both camps. Much of it is atmospheric, which creates fear as you explore exotic locales. Then, as soon as the tension kicks in, it plunges you into fast-paced action where a second of hesitation can cost you your life. As soon as the game started and I saw the warning, I knew I was in for a good time. With a relatively short playtime of 20-30 hours, it’s a well-paced horror game that is never overly welcoming.

I sent this warning to my friend, and she got mad at me for messing her up.

Fear of the living and the dead

Yomawari: Lost in the Dark deals with some rather heavy topics, such as images of bullying and suicide. When you first meet Yuzu (name you can change), her classmates bully her for obvious reasons later in the game. Yuzu discovers that there is a curse on her, and she must restore her memories of a mysterious girl to break it. However, she is only available until sunrise. You need to explore the town and collect seven different items to help her remember everything.

Unlike some horror games, Yomawari: Lost in the Dark never lose its advantage. Even classics like Silent Hill 2 and Forbidden whistle Finally, the plateau. This could be because you become more focused on solving puzzles or just having too many different types of enemies appear. Meanwhile, Yomawari: Lost in the Dark throws new spirit at you at every turn, and the puzzles aren’t so hard that you get frustrated. There are also plenty of hidden and spooky secrets around town to grab your attention if you want to get away from the plot.

The areas you have to erase to get your memories back are the standout moments. Not only are all seven locations stereotypically “scary,” but they all have different pursuers. This means that it is more likely that you will encounter something that you find annoying. For example, the Slenderman-like spirit in school doesn’t scare me. However, the starfish in the cave and the dolls in the bamboo forest made it impossible for me to turn on the lights. Like a scary bag, there’s something for everyone.

Beauty in the dark

A main topic of Yomawari is courage, and this is reflected in the gameplay. Close your eyes and walk among the spirits – all while Yuzu’s heart beat shrill through the speakers – constantly checking that. It also feels like the dev team calculated the speed of the souls during the more intense chase segments so that there is permanently a pixel of space between you and them. If you hesitate or are uncertain for even a second, you will lose. Intentional or not, games that integrate their themes in a way that is unique to the medium is what I love.

It’s pretty immediately obvious that it’s beautiful. Not only is the background lovely detailed and the characters moving amazingly smooth, but the music is also lovely. The main topic reminds me of a Ghibli film, perhaps an odd comparison considering the theme found in Yomawari: Lost in the Dark. Like one horror video I’ve seen the game repeatedly warn against looking up at the sky. But if it doesn’t want us to look up there, why make it so beautiful?

This isn’t even the best picture of the sky from this game.

Not everything can be perfect

However, staying alive is a pain when complicated Nintendo Switch controls can get in the way. I’ll say I’m not sure in part this is due to my Joy-Cons, but I’ve never had an issue like this in other games. Yuzu had some trouble going down. For some reason, she would abnormally slow down, but only when moving in that direction. A lot of the key moments in the later part of the game rely heavily on ringing a bell, which you can accomplish by shaking your controller. However, no matter how hard I shake them or hold the controller, the bell won’t ring. At first, I thought this was supposed to symbolize Yuzu slowly gathering her courage, but even in boss battles that used mechanics, it lasted forever.

Yomawari: Lost in the Dark is the third entry in the cute cheat Yomawari series of horror games and effectively continue a terrifying tradition. Fans of J-Horror will likely appreciate the slow and atmospheric situations, but there’s plenty of scary footage to keep you going. The story is simple but effective and the unique way of conveying the story will keep your eyes glued to the screen. However, just make sure you don’t look away. It is impossible to predict what you will see in the dark.

Yomawari: Lost in the Dark available on PS4, Windows PC and Nintendo Switch.